These Giant Rats Save Lives and May Soon Stop Poachers

Guest: RonNell Andersen Jones, JD, Professor of Law, SJ Quinney College of Law, University of Utah Long-time swing voting Justice Anthony Kennedy is retiring, which gives President Trump an opportunity to name his second justice to the nation’s highest court.

Guest: James McKenna, PhD, Professor of Anthropology, Director of Mother-Baby Behavioral Sleep Lab, University of Notre Dame, Author, "Sleeping with Baby: A Parent’s Guide to Co-Sleeping" American parents have long been warned not to sleep with their baby in the same bed for fear of SIDS – sudden infant death syndrome. But across the globe parents, mothers in particular, sleep with their infants regularly.

Guest: Donna Butts, Executive Director, Generations United Starting this fall, a nonprofit called Generations United will be matching up college students with older citizens who have a spare room in their house. The students will get cheap – or even free – rent, depending on how much they want to help out around the house. The program is meant to tackle two problems at once – the social isolation many seniors experience and the mounting debt students struggle with.

Guest: Rosalyn LaPier, PhD, Professor of Environmental Studies, University of Montana In Native American cultures, food isn’t just tradition, it’s often also religion. The corn or rice or prairie turnip that grew wild on the tribe’s homeland is sacred. So what happens when climate change or pollution or government policies threaten those sacred foods? Native Americans in the Pacific Northwest recently won a court case against the state of Washington aimed at preserving their connection to wild salmon, which they revere.

Guest: Linda K. Wertheimer, Journalist, Author of “Faith Ed, Teaching About Religion In An Age of Intolerance” Kids need early exposure to other religions, says journalist Linda K. Wertheimer. In fact, she says this education should happen in schools – though any time religion comes up in a public school, controversy is sure follow.